The Fabulous Wedding
by ChildInMe
Summary: The day has come. Finally! Except, when it comes down to it, can they say, "I do." Percabeth. Companion piece to She's Pregnant!


The Fabulous Wedding Title: The Fabulous Wedding

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians**

**Summary: It's Annabeth and Percy's wedding, and they're both nervous. Can they get through the day without one of them calling it quits?**

fab-u-lous (fabye-les) adj. 1.Fictitious; Mythical 2.Unbelievable; incredible

Once upon a time that seemed so long ago, I proposed to Annabeth Chase. It involved a large diamond ring, a missing earring, two owls and three seagulls gone crazy, and the loss of two hundred dollars.

But that is another story, and I don't want to remember it. It was an extremely embarrassing moment that makes me blush even now whenever I think about it.

Right after Annabeth accepted the diamond ring, she had told me, "I want a _fabulous_ wedding. I don't want it too big, or too small, or too fancy, or too plain. I want it nice and elegant, and something memorable has to happen then. I don't want it to be an ordinary wedding. Remember, Percy. Fabulous."

"Sure. We can arrange that somehow," I replied.

Now it was our wedding. Months had passed, and they all seemed like a meaningless blur to me, a stage between being married and being unmarried, a few months that was preparing for something that was going to happen. It was girl stuff anyhow. What kind of a cake to have, what kind of food, the wedding dress, the colors, the decorations! I never knew that planning a wedding could be so hard and expensive. Luckily, Silena Beuragard (who was some kind of a genius at these things) helped out a lot.

All too soon, everything was ready. A huge cake with light blue frosting, which was my favorite color and what Annabeth called "simple, elegant, and beautiful." A simple but equally elegant wedding dress that I think she looked great in. A new tux. Guests, including many demigods. We even (grudgingly) invited Clarisse and Chris. Seafood and chicken for the main food, and lots of sweet cake and expensive chocolates at the end.

It would be a _fabulous _wedding, but Annabeth was restless. She said something felt out of place. So did I, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

Now that the time came to it, I felt nervous. The nervousness started materializing in my gut, and built up as the days went by, making me feel almost nauseous. It didn't help that everyone was making a big fuss out of this. It wasn't as though a son of Poseidon marrying a daughter of Athena was that big of a deal. But I had the vaguest suspicion that they were all watching this even up in Olympus, and my vague suspicions come true a lot.

Who am I kidding? I'm crazy! Marrying, settling down, having kids! Kids! I never thought that I'd be a father, but…

What if I did have kids? A bunch of little brats running around, playing pranks, crying, waking us up in the middle of the night. I was too young to be a father, only twenty-one years old. Way too young to get married nowadays. Every horror of having children that I saw on TV came into my mind. Lots of snot-nosed little five-year-olds making my life miserable, mostly.

Was I really ready for that? Was proposing a big mistake? Was this wedding a big mistake? Was I ready for such a commitment?

"Percy, you're killing that handkerchief." Nico said, interrupting my thoughts. It was the first time I had seen him in a tux, and I suppressed a little smile. Nico looked very uncomfortable in that tight tux of his, a penguin of some sort. Well, the kid really was only seventeen.

He and Grover were looking down at me. Grover was sniffling into his own hanky, which I noticed was white bordered with some kind of a fancy pink lace ribbon thing. I think that Juniper made it, but I couldn't be sure.

I looked down at my hands, which had shredded a delicate white handkerchief into itsy, bitsy little bits. Oops.

"Yeah, sorry 'bout that." I said, trying to sound confident and sure of myself. But it came out more squeaky, as if I was going through puberty again. "I mean, uh, yeah. I'm kind of nervous. Marriage is a permanent thing after all."

"I noticed that you were nervous." Nico replied. He sat down in a metal folding chair next to me. It was silent for a minute or so, which was awkward, but then he said, "You're worried that something will go wrong, and you're worried about Poseidon and Athena. Oh, and you're also worried that Annabeth will notice that you didn't use real buttercream for the little cakes, but to be fair, I don't think she'll blow up."

"Am not. Besides, I did use real buttercream, made from scratch" I lied (about the nervousness and the buttercream both.) Nico gave me a half-stern, half-amused look, and I said, "Okay, maybe a little. I mean, Poseidon and Athena have been enemies since she was practically born. That makes everyone think you and Annabeth are natural enemies, because of who your parents are. What else do you expect? People judge me because of Hades all the time.

"Nobody uses real buttercream anymore." Grover said. "We know you're lying."

Nico sighed and then said, "Get up, Percy. The wedding's starting soon. Besides, it's not like they can do anything. You're an adult now, and so is Annabeth. Besides, what are they going to do about it? Come down from Olympus to say something about it?"

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Dun-duh-duh-duh-da. Dun-duh-duh-duuuh-da. Dun-duh-duh-da-da-da-duh-duh-duh-duh.

Nico was on the piano, playing "Here Comes the Bride" rather skillfully. Smart kid. I never knew where or when he learned how to play the piano, but I was complaining. He was doing it for free.

Annabeth swept into the room. The train of her wedding dress wasn't very big, so only one person carried it. Our old friend, Thalia, who still looked very much like a fifteen-year-old going sixteen. Annabeth also had a veil on, but it was small and thin, so it didn't matter much. She looked great. Fabulous. Terrific. Pretty. Beautiful. Whatever else I could think of.

Thalia caught my eye, and then winked mischievously. I smiled crookedly back. It had taken a long time to convince Thalia to get into a white dress, but we made it in the end.

Annabeth finally came up to me. I mouthed, "You look beautiful," to which she mouthed back, "Thanks."

It was true. Annabeth had never looked more beautiful than I saw her at that moment. Seeing her up close then and there, I realized that. Her wedding dress, her veil, her white shoes, it all made her look calm and serene, as if she was satisfied with the fate that life had dealt her with. I had never seen her like this. A burst of pride erupted in my chest, and I realized that I was really, truly happy. Imagine that. Me, Percy Jackson, really happy.

Nico finished playing the song. The priest, a fat, cheruby looking guy, cleared his throat and started speaking.

"We are gathered here today to join these two souls in holy matrimony…"

Behind the priest was my longtime friend, Grover. Right on the stage of the church. The priest didn't notice, but everyone else sure did. I blinked. When did he get there? The last time I saw him, he was in the audience. He was making wild gestures at me. On of them looked like a wave. Another looked like he was reading a book. Annabeth and I exchanged confused glances. What?

"What is he trying to do?" Annabeth whispered furiously to me. "Everyone's staring at him!"

That was true. Everyone in the audience mumbled and pointed, their attention drawn away from the real meat of the wedding. I could tell that made Annabeth mad.

"Do you, Perseus Poseidon Jackson, take Annabeth Minerva Chase to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

The priest's question rooted me to reality again. In a deep, solemn, un-Percy-ish voice, I said, "I do."

"And do you, Annabeth Minerva Chase, take Perseus Poseidon Jackson to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do." Annabeth said staunchly, and then sent me a look that said, "You better not make me regret this, Seaweed Brain."

I sent her a look that said, "I won't."

"Then I, with the authority vested within me by the state of New York, declare you man and wife. If anyone has any objections, speak now or forever remain silen-"

"OBJECTION!" a voice thundered. I recognized it instantly and groaned.

A man in the back row rose up. He had been dressed in a tux and wore a floppy hat to cover up most of his face, but he took off his hat, and there were gasps. It was no other than Poseidon himself, god of the sea, Earthshaker, the holder of the Trident, a lot of other titles, and my father.

I almost died of shame and embarrassment right there. What made it worse was Nico playing Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, the one that sounds dramatic. Annabeth glared at him and shouted, "Stop it!"

Nico stopped.

"Dad? What are you doing here?" I mumbled, turning a bright red color. "Aren't you…I don't know…at Olympus…or something?"

Dad looked at me oddly and then said, "I thought you were joking when you said you were going to marry that girl. Now I see that you were serious."

"Why…would I….be joking…about something like that?" I asked. Or to be more accurate, stuttered.

"You're…pausing….like this." Nico piped up all of a sudden, which totally wasn't helpful. I glared at him to let him know, and he got the message and shut up.

Annabeth was blushing. So was I. Grover sighed behind us. I realized this was what he was warning to us about. The wave signal he was giving was an obvious indication of an ocean, which meant my father. But then what was that thing he did where it seemed like he was reading a book? If it was who I thought it was, then we were doomed.

"OBJECTION FROM ME ALSO!" a voice next to Dad boomed out. I also recognized this voice, but it was even more unwelcome.

Athena was sitting next to Poseidon. She also wore a floppy hat that covered much of her face, and also pushed it back so that we could see who it really was. Stormy gray eyes, blond hair. As I thought it was, it was my (sort of) mother-in-law, Athena.

Another guy in the back row also wearing a floppy hat said, "Athena and Poseidon finally united on something. I thought I'd never see the day come. I should make up a haiku to commemorate this moment."

"Apollo?" Thalia asked in a half-choked voice. "What are you doing here?"

The man in the back took off his hat and through rather unceremoniously on the aisle. It confirmed my fear that it was the haiku-making, song-singing, blond god, who went by the name of "Fred" once. Apollo. He commenced on singing out another one of his (horrible) haikus.

"Athena does not

_Agree with the god of ocean_

_Until this wedding."_

Apollo grinned and said, "Cool, huh? I was working on this one for quite a while. It has exactly the right amount of syllables."

I didn't bother to tell Apollo that haikus were so simple that six-year-old could create one, and the syllables were really easy to keep track of. And also, he had too many syllables in the second line. Oh well. I guess I should be thankful that he wasn't making up something like sonnets. Gods help me if he did, because I didn't know how I would bear it.

We all ignored his haiku, however. Thalia, still aghast, blurted out, "How many Olympians are at this wedding? Party-crashers!"

The entire back row fidgeted nervously.

"Oh, don't tell me that they all came to watch!" Annabeth groaned. "This was supposed to be a small, private wedding. Not a…a…a event to goggle your eyes out at!"

It was just like Annabeth to use an expression like that. I mean, goggle your eyes out? I saw Thalia, Grover, and Nico roll up their eyes.

The back row all threw their hats off. My eyes quickly took in their faces. The Olympians. Oh dear. I recognized glaring Hera squeezed uncomfortably between a happily sobbing Aphrodite and a sulking Ares playing with a knife. Hephaestus in a tux, which I never thought I'd see before. Zeus and Hades, which almost made me faint from shock. Mr. D, looking the same as ever. Artemis and Apollo, sitting side by side and watching with different levels of amusement. A placid-looking Demeter who nodded at me encouragingly. Persephone sitting between her mother and husband. Hestia, goddess of the heart, looking pained for my sake.Other minor gods and goddesses, such as Iris or Nemesis, even Hercules who I had a lesser opinion on.

"My…gods." I heard Grover say quietly and slowly from behind me. "All of them. All of them! Here! At this wedding! Holy Zeus, I didn't even expect one to turn up! When I sensed Athena and Poseidon, I thought that would be all!"

"Mom!" Annabeth wailed out. "You're ruining the wedding!"

"Annabeth, I'm your mother, and I care about you, and I'm doing what's the best for you. Trust me, if you marry that son of Poseidon, then you'll never be happy. You're intellectual, sensible, and pretty. He's the complete opposite." Athena replied calmly.

I was about to open my mouth to defend myself when Annabeth yelled in a semi-angry voice, "His name is Percy, not 'that son of Poseidon'!"

I blinked. For one thing, I'd never heard of Annabeth being so disrespectful as to raise her voice to one of the Olympians, especially her own mother. Secondly, she never stood up for me. She let me fight my own battles. But I guess that today everything was personal. It was her "fabulous wedding" after all.

"Annabeth! Just, just forget it!" I told her. "It's not worth it."

"This was supposed to a fabulous wedding!" Annabeth half-shrieked, and then did something that I never thought she would do before.

She burst out into tears.

All of us stared at her. By all of us, I mean all the Twelve Olympians, Thalia, my brother Tyson, Silena, Nico, Beckendorf, the Stoll brothers, other assorted campers, my mom, Annabeth's dad, half-brothers, and stepmom, Athena's other children, Clarisse, Chris, and myself.

Annabeth was strong. She wasn't one to pity herself, or cry. No, she would jump into action and extract revenge. I guess this was very emotional for her.

She threw her bouquet (fire-and-ice roses and blue carnations, I remember) on the floor, and then ran out of the church. She just ran out through the front door, pushing whoever was in the way rather rudely. Even Apollo, and he's a god!

There was an awkward silence. I looked at my father and Athena, and they looked pretty guilty. Which was weird, because I never knew that gods could feel so guilty.

Then I remembered.

"Annabeth! Annabeth!" I yelled. Stepping over the bouquet, and pushing aside some people, I ran outside to meet my friend, if not my wife.

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I found her outside, sitting at the back steps of the church.

I'd never seen Annabeth this upset since the time back when we were mixed up with that whole Labyrinth thing. And she was pretty upset that time. Although she stopped sobbing, her eyes and nose were still red, and she was sniffling. Her veil was pushed back, and her hair looked a little messy. When she saw me coming, she started crying all over again.

"Jeez, Annabeth. Don't be sad." I said, going over to her, but she cried even harder.

I sat down next to her on the church's back steps, and stroked her curly blond hair. I told her that it was all right, that I didn't care if my father disapproved, or if all the Olympians, even Ares, were watching. I said that I didn't care if she cried, or if Nico played the Fifth Symphony, or if Grover made weird hand motions.

That last part made her hiccup, but it sounded vaguely like suppressed laughter.

"It's not just our parents, Percy. It's that…are we really ready? We're so young. We're twenty-one years old! Are we really prepared to have kids, settle down, live together forever! It's different that just sharing an apartment, you know."

So Annabeth had the same fears as I did!

"I think that a lot of people are scared on their wedding day." I said quietly.

Both of us looked onto the horizon. The sun was setting, and the sky was orange, red, and pink at the same time. Soon, it would set. Soon, the sky would turn dark. Soon, it would be night. And I wanted to get married before that.

"Do you want to go in now?" Annabeth asked.

"Yeah. Hey, Annabeth. I'm going to make you a promise. I promise upon the River Styx that I'll make you happy, and if you want to divorce or something, then I'll let you." I said.

"Fine. On one condition." Annabeth said in a bossy voice.

"What?" I asked, and the tight feeling in my stomach came back again.

"You have to buy me something to commemorate this moment. Preferably something girly, like jewelry. Something that I'll wear, besides my ring, that'll make me remember you and this day."

The feeling in my stomach disappeared. I had just the thing. An opal and pearl necklace that I found in the ocean one day, the day after Kronos was defeated. I think that Dad had meant for me to find it, and maybe he also meant for me to give it to Annabeth.

"Deal. Let's go in."

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"I, Annabeth Minerva Chase, do solemnly swear to be the lawfully wedded wife of Perseus Poseidon Jackson, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in good health and poor, in good times and bad."

"And I, Perseus Poseidon Jackson, do solemnly swear to be the lawfully wedded husband of Annabeth Minerva Chase, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in good health and poor, in good times and bad."

"Then I, vested with the power granted to me by the state of New York, pronounce you husband and wife. If anyone had any objections, speak now or forever be silent."

We all waited. I think that the priest cringed (yes, cringed) a little at that point. But this time there weren't any objections from Athena, Poseidon, or anybody. It was true that it looked like Athena was bursting to say something, but she remained silent. I noticed that Hera looked unusually sulky, which couldn't be good. I mean, getting on the bad side of the goddess of marriage on your wedding day. But I ignored it. Right now, all I could do was cross my fingers, hope for the best, and jump into my new life headfirst.

I didn't think it would be too bad. Back when I was fifteen, just about to turn sixteen, I'd never thought I'd live. That is, that I'd live past a few days of the age of sixteen. Whatever the gods had in store for me then didn't sound to appeasing, whatever it was. And the war with Kronos was getting even more heated up.

But at age twenty-one, I was going to have something I never thought I'd have back then. Personal happiness. And I decided I liked it.

Annabeth threw her bouquet in the air. (I'd picked it up and handed it to her when we came back in.) It flew past Thalia's head, almost hit Grover's shoulder, evaded all of Silena's wild grabs, bounced off of Beckendorf, and landed in the hands of…Nico?

"Whoa. Weird." Annabeth whispered to me, softly so that nobody could hear.

"Yeah, tell me about it." I whispered back.

Silena was screaming in fury, Thalia was laughing like crazy, and Nico was staring at the bouquet as if it was a foreign object. Then, as if struck by sudden inspirations, he cupped his hands over his mouth and yelled, "Hey, Grover! A little snack for you!" and then threw it to Grover, who stuffed it in his mouth, wrappings and flowers and all. And those roses hadn't been cheap, let me tell you that.

"Ahhh!" Silena screamed, and scared everyone by getting out what looked vaguely like a dagger made out of celestial bronze. "Nico di Angelo! Grover Underwood!"

"Hey, don't get into a fight yet! We haven't even cut the cake!" Annabeth yelled out, pointing to a tall, blue cake at the center of a long table covered with a white tablecloth.

"Fine! Cake, and then fight!" Silena grumbled, and put away her dagger with the greatest reluctance. I noticed Nico was fingering his Stygian iron sword with nervousness. Anybody would be scared of a dagger-wielding daughter of Aphrodite on a wedding day, even if you were some sort of a powerful son of Hades with a sword like his.

"Cut the cake slowly." I advised her as we both descended down the steps.

Annabeth laughed, then gave me an almost shy look. "You know what, Percy?"

"What?"

"This has been a really great wedding. I mean, a _fabulous _wedding."

Fabulous wedding. It really had been fabulous. I felt happy.

**AN: Hey, sorry for the LOOONG absence. I bet most of you are ready to kill me for not updating any of my stories. Eh heh. Please don't.**

Anyways, I forgot about this fanfiction. You see, I was planning to enter it in this contest for a copy of Demigods and Monsters, which is kind of like a PJO encyclopedia. Then I forgot it and didn't enter. My mistake. I rediscovered this recently and decided to post it up.

**Don't worry guys, after August 15, which is when summer school ends, I will start updating like there's no tomorrow. (Stupid, stupid summer school.) Did I mention I'm getting a new computer with faster Internet, too?**


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